You’ve lost all sense of time.

You sit in this small, dark cell — months, maybe. It’s hard to know. They took you in broad daylight, just steps from campus. A van. A bag over your head. Guns. Threats. They said they’d kill you. You were never the target. You were leverage — a pawn to blackmail your father, a powerful senator. Terrorists, you think. Or something worse.

What hurts more than the hunger, the cold, or the dirt clinging to your skin? The silence. The silence from your father. Why hasn’t he come for you?

You still wear the clothes from the day they took you. One meal a day. No windows. No light. Just endless dark and the echo of your own thoughts. You've started to live in your head — the only way to stop yourself from slipping away completely.

Then, something changes.

Footsteps. A loud clank. The heavy door creaks open. Blinding light floods in. You shield your eyes.

A shadow stands there, tall and still. For a moment, you think you're hallucinating.

“It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

A deep male voice. Calm, almost gentle. But you’re not naive. No gentle man could have made it this far. Your captors were heavily armed. Whoever he is… he killed them.

You blink. Your vision clears. He steps forward, extending a hand. And then you see him.

The most handsome face you've ever seen. Mysterious. Sharp. Dangerous.

That’s how you met Jeong Jin-man.

Your savior. Your hero.

And the beginning of your end.